Georgetown Day School Website

Founded in 1945 as the first racially integrated school in the District of Columbia, GDS maintains a strong commitment to all forms of diversity. We respect and celebrate our differences, while stressing the common principles and goals that unite us. These include a deep respect for truth, integrity, freedom, human rights, and equality.

Georgetown Day School was established for the purpose of educating children in a diverse, multicultural, and just environment which includes a diverse population of students, families, faculty and staff and seeks to provide them with equal access to opportunity and equal support in their endeavors. Committed to the admission of students of color, and the inclusion of all students in the School community, GDS enrolls students reflecting diversity of race, color, ethnic background, religion, economic status, gender, and sexual orientation. We particularly respect and embrace the school's historic and traditional commitment to the inclusion of African-Americans in all aspects of school life. This statement of inclusion in no way restricts our commitment to other students of color, or other groups.

The school's diversity mission must evolve as both society and GDS evolve.

Diversity Initiatives and Programs

Facilitate all-school faculty reading groups
Oversee a Diversity Issues Retreat for High School students in the fall
Assist with the High School Martin Luther King, Jr. Assembly
Co-chair the Committee on Equity and Justice
Serve as advisors to Diversity Connections, a GDS student organization

Visitors are welcome at either of the Diversity Offices, located at the High School on the second floor near the library, and next door to the Middle School principal's office on the Lower/Middle School campus. The Diversity staff supports everyone at GDS as the school community seeks to become more diverse and nurturing.

Georgetown Day School does not separate preparation for college from preparation for life. The process of education instructs our students as powerfully as the educational information which is imparted. The School's commitment to an education for character has made GDS unique and a model for others. We are proud of our history, the quality and breadth of our educational programs, and, most importantly, of the articulate, self-confident, and responsible citizens our students become.

College Programs for Students of Color

The following schools have fall overnight programs for students of color. These programs provide a great opportunity for an in-depth college visit. They provide an opportunity to meet students, attend classes and obtain a comfort level with the campus and its community of color. Most of these programs are for seniors and travel expenses are paid for by the college. Some schools will offer such programs for juniors (i.e. Vassar), but College Counseling will not distribute these programs to juniors. Junior year is an important year for colleges, so we encourage juniors to miss as little school as possible. Attending these programs as a junior does not impact the admissions decision. As of today, the following schools have sent information about their overnight programs. I have also added the names of students or alumni of color as contact people if available. Please see Barbara Bergman or Demisha Lee for applications.

Bates College, Lewiston, ME:
(Sonija Parson GDS '02 is a freshman here)
Colby College, Waterville, ME:
(Mayra Diaz and Coy Dailey, GDS Middle School teachers are alumni)
Trinity College, Hartford, CT:
(William Suter GDS '02 is a freshman here)

Scholarships for Students of Color

Scholarship information is very abundant in the college counseling office. The majority of such opportunities arrive in early February, allowing seniors the time to apply to colleges first, then work on scholarship applications. There are several general, large name scholarships posted on the College Counseling website at www.gds.org/college (e-mail the GDS webmaster at webmaster@gds.org with your name and grade for the password). Smaller, school-specific scholarships are posted daily on the college counseling bulletin board outside of Paul Levy's office. Students are encouraged to visit this board DAILY for information about everything!! Due to our meeting schedules and attention we provide to juniors and seniors, we are unable to post all of the school-specific scholarships on the web. The following information is currently available in our office.

Meyerhoff Scholarship at UMBC (University of Maryland Baltimore County)
For African American students interested in science and technology. Students must meet minimum requirements and be nominated by their counselor. Freeman Hrabowski, President and Director of the Meyerhoff program is the guest lecturer for the October 29 diversity and PSOC discussion.
Ron Brown Scholar Program
For African American students with outstanding promise.
CAHSEE (Center for the Advancement of Hispanics in Science and Engineering) Young Scholar Award
Seeks high school seniors of Central American heritage.

Parents of Students of Color at Georgetown Day School seek to promote an atmosphere of academic achievement, mutual respect, acceptance, empowerment, and ownership for people of all races and cultures within the full spectrum of the life and activities of the Georgetown Day School community.

How We Got Started

In February 1998, the Board of Trustees Diversity Committee concluded that the Georgetown Day School community was not meeting the long-range plan "to continue to carry out its historic commitment to all forms of diversity."

The Board established a Diversity Task Force which examined diversity issues for two years. The final report of the Task Force was published in May 2000. Copies are available upon request.

After surveys and discussions, the following four areas of focus emerged for the Diversity Task Force to explore:

Curriculum
Recruitment and Retention
Academic/Extracurricular Access
School Climate/Student, Staff, Parents, Alumni Relationships

Recommendations in each of these areas are presented in the Final Report of the Georgetown Day School Diversity Task Force and were adopted by the Board of Trustees.

Organizing a formal network of parents of students of color for those parents who chose to so identify themselves occurred in the spring of 2000. Parents of Students of Color (PSC) strive to advance the recommendations and proposals the Task Force composed.

Parents of Students of Color Networking Group Events

Parent Diversity Discussion/Parents of Students of Color Meeting
Special Guest: Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski
Tuesday, October 29, 7:30 PM @ L/MS

This year the parent diversity dicussion series begins with an exceptional personality - Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, President of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, UMBC. Dr. Hrabowski will describe "Strategies for Raising Academic Success for Both Young Men and Women of Color."

He is singularly adept in promoting academic achievement for today's students. A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Dr. Hrabowski graduated from Hampton University with a degree in mathematics when he was 19. By the time he was 24, he had earned a master's degree in mathematics and a Ph.D. in higher education/statistics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research and publications focus on math education, with special emphasis on minority participation and performance. He serves as a consultant to the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education, and universities and school systems all across the country. He was appointed president of UMBC in May 1992.

Dr. Hrabowski's visit to GDS will launch this year's discussion series at an unprecedented level of stature and professional achievement. We are delighted that he accepted our invitation and we hope you will be able to attend.

POSITIONS FOR 2008-2009